Page 9 - APAP - Inside Arts - Summer 2020

UP UNDER
In Australia, Claire Spencer of Arts Centre Melbourne sums it up beautifully: “Art helps us reflect and process what is happening to us as humans, and this is a deeply human experience that we are all going through at the same time.”
Arts Centre Melbourne launched the Arts Wellbeing Collective—a consortium of arts and cultural organizations working together to promote positive mental health and well-being in the performing arts— in 2018. But its mission and message are particularly relevant today.
The collective collaborates with member organizations, subject matter experts, performing arts practitioners and psychologists
to co-design initiatives that are prevention-focused and evidence- based, informed by contemporary research into workplace mental health, organizational development, and extensive sector knowledge.
The Arts Wellbeing Collective has seen a spike in interest since the onset of the coronavirus.
“It was so fast and the impact was so enormous right from day one, with stories of people losing their jobs and their bookings, and unfortunately a lot of these artists are falling through the cracks financially as well [by not qualifying for] the government support, so it’s been a very hard difficult time for people,” Claire Spencer, Arts Centre Melbourne’s CEO, told Limelight magazine.
Through workshops, presentations, a hotline, and on- site leadership development, the collective aims to improve mental health literacy, reduce barriers to help-seeking, and build practical skills in individuals and leaders in the performing arts. To learn more, visit www.artswellbeingcollective. com.au.
SCHOOL’S IN
Things we’re not loving while on lockdown? Remote learning (a.k.a. homeschooling). Things we’re loving while on lockdown? Master classes for the minis. Thanks to Kennedy Center, children’s book author-turned- YouTube sensation Mo Willems has taught kids of all ages how to draw, encouraged gratitude, and given harried parents a much-needed break. Learn more at www.kennedy-center.org/mowillems. Lincoln Center Pop-Up Classroom and #ConcertsForKids are a godsend. Featuring visual art workshops with Taryn Matusik, dance workshops with Yvonne Winborne and Deborah Lohse, and theater workshops with Jeffery Boerwinkle, these are the antidote to Zoom burnout. Visit www.lincolncenter.org for more information.
Prints in Clay Concert
VIRTUAL REALITIES
While the stage is dark at the Charleston (South Carolina) Gaillard Center, its mission remains vibrant. To maintain its connection to the community and its patrons, the center has worked with local and national artists to bring virtual content to audiences, including a reprise of the 2019 program Prints in Clay. The multimedia initiative included an exhibition of work by South Carolina photographers focused on the Slave Dwelling Project, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to identify and assist in preserving extant slave dwellings. These images inspired other offerings, such as a curated food tour of the African diaspora and a concert featuring mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges and the Lowcountry Voices. To view the concert, visit https://1.shortstack. com/qrpLCW. To view a virtual version of the exhibit, visit https://youtu.be/ bP1KEI_n0rk.
SUMMER 2020 INSIDE ARTS 7